Department for Transport

Model Aircraft

Alberto Costa: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the forthcoming Drone Registration Scheme on aero modellers flying of small air vehicles that are not drones.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Drone Operator Registration Scheme will apply from November 2019 and is one of several new measures to address the safety and security challenges that unmanned aircraft pose. It will help law enforcement agencies to tackle the misuse of such aircraft effectively, alongside new Police powers, which will be introduced in the upcoming Drones Bill. In response to the Department’s 2018 consultation on unmanned aircraft, the Government stated that any alternative approach for model flyers must be achieved without imposing undue burden on the state and the taxpayer, whilst also being efficient and enforceable, without compromising the integrity of the policy. Any blanket exemption from registration and competency tests for aero modellers, or having the associations register their members into the registration scheme, will not meet these criteria.

Electric Vehicles: Charging Points

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with local authorities on (a) improving the availability of electric car charging points and (b) funding for those charging points.

Michael Ellis: In 2018 Office for Low Emission Vehicle Ministers wrote to Local Authority leaders encouraging them to support the uptake of electric vehicles and apply to the On-street Residential Chargepoint Scheme. This scheme provides grant funding to Local Authorities to install chargepoints at on-street locations for residents that lack off-street parking. Ministers also announced a further £4.5m for the scheme (£2m for 18/19 and £2.5m for 19/20). In addition, OLEV and the Energy Savings Trust have hosted a series of on-street charging workshops providing over 200 Local Authorities with more information on the scheme. The Office for Low Emission Vehicles have regular discussion with Local Authorities on recharging infrastructure. We have also provided £40m to eight Go Ultra Low Cities, around £20 million for dedicated taxi infrastructure and recently announced over £12.5 million for bus recharging infrastructure under the ultra low emission bus scheme.

Large Goods Vehicles: Parking

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to consult local authorities on (a) improving the adequacy of secure overnight parking for lorries and (b) increasing the number of rest facilities for lorry drivers.

Michael Ellis: On the 24 July 2018 the Government issued a revised version of the National Planning Policy Framework that now indicates that the need for sufficient overnight lorry parking should be taken into account in planning policies and decisions. There are already various positive market developments, with operators coming forward with plans for new and expanded sites. There are no current plans for a consultation with local authorities, although the potential for further communications with local authorities about lorry parking is under review.

Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: Vacancies

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to improve lorry driver training and conditions to tackle the shortage of drivers; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Ellis: The Government is working with the industry to ensure that the Trailblazer Apprenticeship standard that has been developed for lorry drivers fully meets the needs of the sector. The Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) is under review and we will introduce changes when a legislative opportunity arises. Further measures will be announced shortly.

Roads: Deer

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many accidents on the road there have been as a result of deer in the last three years for which information is available.

Michael Ellis: The Department does not hold information on what kind of animal is involved in road accidents.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Boilers: Natural Gas

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 15 May 2019 to Question 250740, for what reason the 35 per cent of boilers that did not comply with the legal efficiency standards were allowed to be sold.

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 15 May 2019 to Question 250740, whether the boilers that met or exceeded the minimum efficiency requirement of 92 per cent were in test situations or in real-world situations when installed.

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 15 May 2019 to Question 250741 on boilers: natural gas, if he will publish (a) the research carried out on real-world boiler performance referred to in that answer and (b) where on the BRE website further information can be found.

Chris Skidmore: The assessment referred to in answer of Question 250740 was carried out before the Boiler plus standard came into force. There is no evidence that boilers with an efficiency below 92% continued to be sold beyond the coming into force date of the current standards.Efficiency standards for products are always carried out under standard test conditions. This ensures a reliable value for the product itself, irrespective of the capability of the installer, the diverse range of buildings into which they are installed, or how optimally the product is used by the consumer. This provides the ability to compare products fairly. The research carried out on real-world boiler performance is available from the SAP website:www.bregroup.com.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Council of Europe

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, for what reason the Government supported proposals to close the youth department of the Council of Europe.

Mark Field: ​No decision has been taken to close the youth department of the Council of Europe. The suggestion to decouple the youth budget from the main budget is just one option proposed to manage the budget deficit in the organisation flowing from Russian non-payment and also as part of a wider drive for reforms and efficiency savings. It has yet to be discussed. The UK's priority is to protect the core functions of the organisation, including the court and the convention system.

Brunei: LGBT People

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 14 May 2019 to Question 250501 on Brunei: LGBT People, what representations he has made to his counterpart in Brunei on revoking in their entirety the anti-LGBT laws in that country.

Mark Field: The UK is committed to the principle of non-discrimination on any grounds, including on the basis of sexual orientation and/or gender identity. Human rights are universal and should apply equally to all people. The Foreign Secretary and I have made that position clear through public and parliamentary statements and in conversations with the Government of Brunei.We welcomed assurances provided by The Sultan of Brunei on 5 May regarding the implementation of phase 3 of the Sharia Penal Code. His Majesty confirmed that the de facto moratorium on the death penalty will apply to punishments under the Sharia Penal Code and has committed to ratify the United Nations Convention Against Torture. The assurances provided by the Sultan go some way to addressing our anxieties about the human rights situation in Brunei. We have urged Brunei to build on these assurances and formalise its commitment to respect individual freedoms and minorities. We echoed this message in the UK's statement at Brunei's Universal Periodic Review on 10 May.

Bahrain: Homosexuality

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the Bahraini ambassador on that country's laws on gay rights.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Government of Bahrain is aware that we consider that the criminalisation of same-sex relations and the persecution of gay people is wrong.​

Mexico: Foreign Relations

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has met with or plans to meet his Mexican counterpart.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Foreign Secretary spoke to this counterpart, Mexican Minister for Foreign Affairs, Marcelo Ebrard on 4 February. A range of issues of mutual interest were discussed. The Foreign Secretary also extended an invitation to Foreign Minister Ebrard to the International Conference on Media Freedom 10-11 July. Separately I met with Julian Ventura, the former Mexican Ambassador to the UK, in December 2018, immediately before he left the UK to take up his new role as one of the new Deputy Foreign Ministers.

Department of Health and Social Care

Baby Care Units: Mental Health Services

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department holds information on the number of neonatal units that have a dedicated (a) psychologist and (b) counsellor who is fully-funded by the NHS.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Information relating to neonatal units is not separately identifiable.

NHS: Cybercrime

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much the National Health Service spent on cyber security in each of the last five years.

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to ensure that NHS England is prepared to defend the NHS against cyber attacks.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information requested on cyber spending covers sensitive detail about cyber security investment for the National Health Service. In this instance, releasing this information at the level of any annual breakdown may assist in determining the effectiveness of detecting cyber-attacks on the NHS, and could compromise measures to protect NHS IT systems, leaving them vulnerable to future cyber-attacks.However, in total, over £250 million will have been invested nationally to improve the cyber security of the health and care system between 2016 and 2021. This excludes both investment by local organisations, and wider national IT investment which supports better security such as Microsoft licensing for NHS organisations.Regarding the steps taken to defend against cyber attacks on the NHS, the active cyber defence of NHS organisations is a local responsibility for each organisation to carry out. However, there is national support and practical guidance available to NHS organisations which is primarily delivered by NHS Digital but supported and prioritised for the highest risk organisations by NHS England and the Department. In the event of national-scale incidents that affect many health and care organisations, NHS Digital plays a vital role in coordinating and ensuring appropriate technical remediation, as part of the wider cross-system cyber security response led by the Department.

Epilepsy

Mr Edward Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of decreased funding for Public Health England on its ability to decrease health inequalities for people with epilepsy.

Seema Kennedy: No assessment has been made of the effect of funding for Public Health England (PHE) on its ability to reduce health inequalities for people with epilepsy.PHE continues to provide data, intelligence and evidence-based advice to local authorities and the National Health Service on health inequalities and impacts for specific population groups.In February 2018, PHE published data analysis for local authorities and the NHS highlighting the number and rate of deaths associated with epilepsy and other neurological conditions. The report identified inequalities in deaths associated with epilepsy and encourages local action. The report can be viewed at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/deaths-associated-with-neurological-conditionsPHE also provides access to intelligence resources on neurological conditions including epilepsy via the ‘Neurology data and analysis: a guide for health professionals’ page on Gov.uk, available to view at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/guidance/neurology-data-and-analysis-a-guide-for-health-professionals

General Practitioners: Migrant Workers

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GPs have been recruited through the international GP recruitment programme in each of the last five years; and which countries those GPs were recruited from.

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the cost-effectiveness of the international GP recruitment programme compared to other processes for recruiting more GPs.

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much has been spend on the international GP recruitment programme in each of the last five years.

Seema Kennedy: The International GP Recruitment (IGPR) Programme was announced in August 2017 and recruitment began from April 2018. Prior to this, four pilot schemes were established between May 2016 and November 2017. Data on the number of general practitioners (GPs) who accepted a place on the IGPR programme and the pilot schemes and which countries they were recruited from for the years 2016/17 - 2019/20 could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.Staff involved in the IGPR Programme are undertaking wider workforce retention activities and the spend on international recruitment is therefore not separately identifiable. A number of staff roles are shared across general practice workforce initiatives to ensure maximum use of the available resource.NHS England, Health Education England, and partner organisations continue to review the effectiveness of all measures in place to increase the GP workforce, including international GP recruitment, as part of the wider development of a sustainable general practice workforce.

Incontinence

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve urinary continence care in the NHS.

Seema Kennedy: In England, it is the responsibility of National Health Service commissioners to make decisions on individual urinary continence care on the basis of the available evidence, taking into account guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and NHS England where available. In July 2018 NHS England published revised guidance for commissioners to support the development of high-quality continence services. NICE guidance is always evidence based, adhering to the latest clinical thinking and research to determine the best treatment for patients.

Prisons: Mental Health Services

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the assessment and treatment of prisoner mental health.

Jackie Doyle-Price: NHS England is working with partners across the criminal justice and immigration removal system to improve services for offenders and detainees with mental health difficulties. National Health Service England specialised commissioners and NHS England health and justice (H&J) Commissioners have also been working collaboratively alongside the mental health team in NHS England to develop work to improve mental health of prisoners and to develop and improve the system for transfers and remissions of adult prisoners to mental health hospitals Mental health summits are being delivered regionally to develop the whole offender mental health pathway, identifying local anomalies, and gaps as well as good practice, and producing locally owned action plans to improve services. In addition, new service specifications have been published for both low and medium secure hospitals as well as prison mental health services. The prison mental health specification embeds the ‘Standards for Prison Mental Health Services’, developed by the Royal College of Psychiatrists to ensure high quality care for all.

Obesity

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure that public health campaigns on nutrition and obesity do not create stigma which can contribute to appearance-based bullying.

Seema Kennedy: Public Health England (PHE) does not run any public health campaigns which focus on body shape and appearance-based bullying.PHE runs a range of campaigns on nutrition and obesity including One You, our adult programme, and Change4Life which targets the families of primary school children. These campaigns are designed to communicate the positive benefits of healthier lifestyles.Campaign messaging and imagery is developed in consultation with expert nutritionists and dieticians, clinicians and academics and is carefully tested with the target audience. Imagery used in our adult One You campaign is designed to reflect the diversity of the population, whilst Change4Life uses animated characters that are designed to be generic and to represent every family. More on One You and Change4Life can be viewed at the following links:https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/https://www.nhs.uk/change4life

Blood: Contamination

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 13 May 2019 to Question 249855 on Blood: Contamination, whether any treatment is offered to donors whose blood donation tests are positive for infection.

Jackie Doyle-Price: NHS Blood and Transplant’s Clinical Support Team provides support and advice for any donor whose blood donation tests positive for infection.The donor will be asked to discuss the result with one of NHS Blood and Transplant’s Clinical Support Team clinical staff and, with the donor’s consent, NHS Blood and Transplant’s Clinical Support Team will arrange a referral to their general practitioner or a specialist, who will discuss the need for any treatment with the donor.

Evorel and Femseven

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the availability of (a) Evorel and (b) Femseven sequi patches.

Seema Kennedy: The manufacturer of Evorel transdermal patches has confirmed that supplies of all presentations are currently available. However, they have stated that in some cases supplies are slightly lower than normal and therefore they are applying restrictions on orders as a precaution to ensure limited stock is maintained.The Department is aware that the supplier of FemSeven Sequi patches is experiencing long term supply issues. As a result, they are expected to be out of stock until late 2019. We remain in regular contact with the company to resolve this as soon as possible.Supplies of other hormone replacement therapy transdermal patches continue to remain available and patients affected have been advised to discuss these alternative treatment options with their clinician.

Mental Health Services

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that advance decisions on mental health treatment are respected and adhered to.

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure the adequate (a) monitoring and (b) use of advance decisions in mental health care.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Last year Professor Sir Simon Wessely, president of the Royal Society of Medicine, submitted his independent review of the Mental Health Act. The review made 154 recommendations – including the establishment of new statutory advance choice documents, so that people’s wishes and preferences carry far more legal weight.We have accepted this recommendation.The Government is currently considering the detailed recommendations of the review and will respond in due course. We remain committed to reforming mental health law and will develop and bring forward legislation when Parliamentary time allows.

NHS: Crimes of Violence

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 16 May 2019 to Question 252108 on Crimes of Violence, whether his Department has plans to make an estimate of the cost to the NHS of violent crime.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department currently has no plans to make an estimate of the cost to the National Health Service of violent crime.However, the report ‘The economic and social costs of crime’, published by the Home Office, includes information on the costs associated with physical and emotional harms as a consequence of crime for health services. The report is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-economic-and-social-costs-of-crime

Self-harm and Suicide

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 16 May 2019 to Question 252092 on Self-Harm and Suicide, where data on (a) self-harm and (b) suicide among family members of victims of violence is held.

Jackie Doyle-Price: This data is not available. The fact that a person who self harms or takes their own life is a family member of a victim of violence is not routinely recorded by the National Health Service.

Department for Education

Pupils: Nottinghamshire

Ben Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the funding per pupil at (a) primary and ( b) secondary schools in Nottinghamshire in 2019-20.

Nick Gibb: Nottinghamshire will receive, in total, £482.1 million through the schools block of the Dedicated Schools Grant in 2019-20, as calculated under the national funding formula. This means that the overall average per pupil funding for mainstream schools in Nottinghamshire this year is £4,442.Local authorities are still responsible for designing a local formula to fund schools in their areas. The average per pupil funding allocated under Nottinghamshire’s local formula is £3,990 per pupil in primary schools, and £5,017 per pupil in secondary schools.Schools also receive funding from separate funding streams and additional grants, such as the high needs blocks of the DSG and the Pupil Premium.

Apprentices: Pay

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department published an apprentice pay survey in (a) 2017 and (b) 2018; and when the next such survey will be published.

Anne Milton: The most recent Apprentice Pay Survey (APS) was published by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) in 2017. The government has merged aspects of its APS with certain aspects of the Apprenticeship Evaluation Survey (AES). Fieldwork for the latest APS was conducted in late 2018 and early 2019. As with previous years, the Department for Education is responsible for publishing the latest AES, and BEIS is responsible for publishing the latest APS. Reporting for the surveys is underway, and both will be published in due course.

Pupils: Absenteeism

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children were absent from school in the 2018-19 academic year due to mental health problems.

Nick Gibb: The information requested is not held centrally.The Department published data on absence due to illness, but not on type of illness, in table 2 of the annual “Pupil absence in schools in England” statistical release: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england-2017-to-2018.​

Department for Education: Brexit

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many officials in his Department have been seconded away from their normal duties to work on the UK's withdrawal from the EU; and what effect that secondment of staff has had on the effectiveness of his Department.

Anne Milton: The department constantly reviews its capabilities and allocation of resources in order to effectively deliver the government’s agenda. We have accelerated our plans, and at the same time, the Civil Service as a whole is working to ensure that EU Exit implementation is carried out to high quality without impacting public service delivery across the whole of the government.It is therefore only sensible that we make use of the resources and expertise we have available to make sure that the UK is prepared for all Brexit scenarios. This includes departments sharing staff and working together on joint projects.Internal transfers and loans are agreed locally, so the department does not hold this information centrally.

Education: ICT

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when the new EdTech Leadership Group will be convened; and how the leadership group will be selected.

Nick Gibb: The EdTech Leadership Group is due to convene for the first time before summer recess.Members of the group have been selected on the basis of their experience and ability to influence either the education technology industry or the education sector to further the aims of the Government’s education technology strategy. Members were also selected to ensure a balance of experience between the technology industry and education sectors (ensuring representation across different age-phases of education).

Schools: West Midlands

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer in advance of the spending review on increasing school funding in the West Midlands.

Nick Gibb: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, meets ministers from HM Treasury regularly to discuss matters of shared interest, including funding for schools.

Females: Apprentices

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to encourage more women into apprenticeships.

Anne Milton: Women are well-represented in terms of overall apprenticeship starts. In the first half of 2018/19, 47% of apprenticeship starts were by women, which is an increase from 45.8% for the equivalent period in 2017/18.However, we also want to make sure that more women are able to access apprenticeships in traditionally male-dominated fields as well as in fields that offer the highest returns. Starts by women in the construction, planning and the built environment sector increased by 36.7% in the first half of 2018/19, compared to the same period in 2017/18, from 790 starts to 1,080 starts.Through the Apprenticeship Diversity Champions Network (ADCN), we are championing gender representation in apprenticeships amongst employers in industries where improvement is needed. This includes making sure that more women can access science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) apprenticeships and it is encouraging to see the progress that is being made. For example, ADCN member GlaxoSmithKline are well ahead of their aim to achieve 25% of women representation in their STEM apprenticeships. Women now make up 47% of their UK intake. The ADCN has recently published an update on its work which can be found at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/802200/ADCN-Report-2019-LR-v2.pdf.Furthermore, we are working to raise awareness of apprenticeships and the benefits that they bring to people of all backgrounds. Our ‘Fire It Up’ communication campaign seeks to change the way that people think about apprenticeships and to demonstrate that they are an aspirational choice for anyone. ‘Fire It Up’ advertising features apprentices from a diverse range of backgrounds and showcases female apprentices in STEM occupations.

Overseas Students: EU Nationals

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to support the attendance of EU students at UK universities after the UK leaves the EU.

Chris Skidmore: EU students and staff make an important contribution to our universities and it is testament to our system that so many students from abroad choose to come and study here.I know that students, staff and providers are concerned about what EU exit means for study and collaboration opportunities. To help give certainty, in July 2018, we announced guarantees on student finance for EU nationals. These guarantees are not altered if the UK leaves the EU without a deal.EU nationals who start a course in England in the 2019/20 academic year or before will continue to be eligible for ‘home fee’ status and student finance support from Student Finance England for the duration of their course, provided they meet the residency requirement. We recognise how important it is that students and institutions have information on eligibility for student support before applications for courses open.Applications for courses starting in academic year 2020/21 do not open until September 2019. We will provide sufficient notice for prospective EU students on fee arrangements ahead of the 2020/2021 academic year and subsequent years in the future.

Students: Finance

Sir David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of the Graduate Contributions Statement proposed by the Russell Group and MoneySavingExpert; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Skidmore: The government is always looking for ways to improve communications with borrowers, and we welcome this contribution to the post-18 review of education and funding from the Russell Group and Martin Lewis from Money Saving Expert on the Graduate Contributions Statement. Work on the review is still ongoing. The independent panel will report before the government concludes the overall review. The current student loan statements are fit for purpose, providing borrowers with the relevant information about their accounts, including loans balance, repayments made and interest accrued over the previous tax year. Student loan borrowers currently receive account statements annually. We are continually working to improve the repayment system for borrowers and are currently exploring how students taking out a student loan can have better online access to much more up to date information on their repayments.

Pupils: Autism

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of children with autism spectrum condition who have been (a) excluded and (b) isolated in schools in the last 12 months.

Nick Gibb: Permanent and fixed period exclusions in England: 2016-2017 can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/permanent-and-fixed-period-exclusions-in-england-2016-to-2017.Permanent and fixed period exclusions by type of special educational need can be found in national table 6.The information requested, on the number of children with autism spectrum condition who have been isolated in schools in the last 12 months, is not held centrally.As part of Ofsted inspections, however, schools will be asked to provide records and analysis of any use of internal isolation. Ofsted inspectors will expect schools to have clear and effective behaviour policies that promote high standards of behaviour and are applied consistently and fairly. In reaching a judgement on pupils’ personal development, behaviour and welfare, inspectors will take account of a range of information, including schools’ use of internal isolation.The Department’s behaviour and discipline guidance to schools makes clear that schools must act lawfully, reasonably and proportionately when using isolation, and must take account of any special education needs or disabilities pupils placed in isolation may have.

Children and Young People: Mental Health

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to ensure the effectiveness of cross-departmental work to tackle the referral of children and young people with (a) depression and (b) mental health issues.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education has a joint programme of work with the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England and Health Education England to deliver the proposals set out in the green paper ‘Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision’. This includes setting up and running Mental Health Support Teams linked to groups of schools and colleges. The teams will be made up of additional, trained, mental health workers, supervised by suitable NHS staff working closely with other professionals such as educational psychologists, school nurses, counsellors and social workers.The first teams will be set up in 25 trailblazer areas this year, which will be evaluated to inform the subsequent roll-out. The Department has put in place a small regional implementation team to work alongside NHS England to support delivery of the green paper commitments and lead and model effective partnership working for education and health.The Government is also taking action to support specific vulnerable groups of children. In May 2016, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission began inspecting local areas on their effectiveness in fulfilling the new duties on education, health and social care services to provide for children and young people who have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). All 152 local areas in England will be inspected over a period of five years. The inspections are identifying how effectively access to mental health provision is working as part of the SEND provision locally.The Department is also piloting new mental health assessments for looked-after children to ensure young people are assessed at the right time to support more effective access to mental health provision, with a focus on meeting their individual needs as they enter care.

Pupils: Mental Health

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the effect on children’s (a) wellbeing and (b) development of changes in the time available for break-time over the last 20 years.

Nick Gibb: The Government has no plans to assess the impact of any changes in the length of school break times. Schools have the autonomy to make decisions about the structure and duration of their school day to suit their own circumstances. However, the Department is clear that pupils should be given an appropriate break and expects school leaders to make sure this happens. The Government recognises the importance of physical activity in schools to improve physical and mental wellbeing and support attainment. The Department’s childhood obesity strategy reflects the Chief Medical Officer’s guidelines that primary age children should get at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity a day and the aim that 30 minutes of that should be during the school day.

National Vocational Qualifications: Nottinghamshire

Ben Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of pupils achieved a NVQ3+ or equivalent in Nottinghamshire in 2018.

Anne Milton: ​Level 3 attainment by young people aged 19 in 2018 was published in April 2019 in the following national statistics release: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/level-2-and-3-attainment-by-young-people-aged-19-in-2018.The table below gives the proportion of pupils aged 19 in 2018 who had achieved a level 3 qualification. Proportions are for those educated in the state sector at age 15.Cohort of pupils aged 19 in 2018Pupils attaining level 3 by age 19Nottinghamshire local authority51.8%East Midlands52.4%England57.2% Level 3 includes A levels (including Applied A levels, Vocational A levels and Pre-U principal subjects), International Baccalaureate, AS levels, Advanced Apprenticeships, National Vocational Qualifications and Vocationally Related Qualifications and other qualifications, including the level 3 diploma.

Pupils: Per Capita Costs

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the funding per pupil allocated to each (a) primary and (b) secondary school in Havering in the last five years.

Nick Gibb: The revenue funding allocated for schools for each financial year from 2015-19 for Havering local authority are shown in the attached table. For financial year 2019-2020, only the dedicated schools grant (DSG) has been allocated at this time, though this makes up the bulk of schools funding. The DSG for Havering this year is £218.2 million. Other grants will be allocated at later points in the year.



257004_Table 
(Excel SpreadSheet, 56 KB)

Teachers: Training

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that all education professionals are adequately trained to deal with epileptic seizures.

Nick Gibb: The Children and Families Act (2014) places a legal duty on schools to support children with health conditions, including epilepsy. The Department has published clear, statutory guidance on how to do so in the document ‘Supporting Pupils at School with Medical Conditions’.Pupils with medical conditions should have an individual healthcare plan drawn up in partnership with a healthcare professional, parents and the pupil themselves. Individual healthcare plans should include details of the support a pupil requires, what needs to be done, when and by whom. It should also contain details of any training required to ensure school staff are competent and confident in their ability to provide the support needed.

Ministry of Justice

Probation: Staff

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of trends in the level of wellbeing of probation officers; and if he will make a statement.

Robert Buckland: The National Probation Service (NPS) conducts an annual survey of its staff, which includes questions on well-being (relating to respondents’ life as a whole, not simply their employment) and also their engagement with the NPS. The survey results cover everyone employed by the NPS, both operational and administrative staff. In relation to both well-being and positive engagement, there has been a steady upward trend since the first survey in 2014. We do not hold comparable data on staff employed by the Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs), as the CRCs are responsible for the management of the people they employ.

Probation: Staff

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he has taken to undertake a review the quality of the clinical supervision provided to probation staff; and if he will make a statement.

Robert Buckland: Following the expiry of the previous clinical supervision contract in March 2018, an expert group was created comprising representatives of the probation and prison services and psychology to determine the likely future needs of prison and probation staff for clinical support. A new provider was commissioned to deliver the service (now known as Structured Professional Support) in April 2018. Delivery of this service is kept under constant review.

Prisons: Radicalism

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to tackle the spread of Islamist extremism in prisons.

Robert Buckland: Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) works closely with a range of partners to tackle extremism of all ideologies in prisons. A HMPPS and Home Office Joint Extremism Unit (JEXU) was established in April 2017 to be the strategic centre for all counter terrorism work in prison and probation and have oversight of delivery across the end-to-end offender management process. Prisoners identified as being of extremist concern, or who have shown signs of being vulnerable to extremism, are managed actively as part of a comprehensive case management process . Over 22,000 prison staff have received specialist extremism awareness training, to enable them to identify, report and challenge extremist views. In addition, HMPPS employs multi-faith chaplaincy teams in all prisons, whose role it is to provide support, guidance and to challenge inappropriate behaviour. To further help offenders rehabilitate and disengage from extremism and terrorism, JEXU has rolled out a theological intervention programme. A small group of chaplains are receiving specialised training and ongoing support to lead this important capability. Finally, two Separation Centres are in operation for those individuals whose extremist risk cannot be managed effectively in the mainstream prison population, as a safeguarding measure to protect prisoners from terrorist and extremist influences, and to reduce the ongoing risk they present to national security despite their imprisonment.

Prisons: Ministers of Religion

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) prisoners and (b) chaplains employed within prisons there are of each religion or belief.

Robert Buckland: The Prison Act 1952 enshrines in law the statutory duties of a prison chaplain. These tasks, which must be undertaken daily, are incorporated into Prison Rules and Young Offender Rules. They are explained in detail in Prison Service Instruction 05/2016 Faith and Pastoral Care for Prisoners.We recognise and respect the right of prisoners to register and practice their faith while serving their prison sentence. Chaplaincy plays a critical and unique role in the work of prisons and life of prisoners. It provides not only faith advice but pastoral care in support of HM Prison and Probation Service’s commitments to decency, safety and rehabilitation.A breakdown of prisoner population by religion is provided in the quarterly Offender Management statistics publication on GOV.UK. The latest publication can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/offender-management-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2018. The relevant extract of those statistics is provided in the following table:Table 1.5: Prison population by religion and sex  31-Mar-1830-Jun-1830-Sep-1831-Dec-1831-Mar-19Percentage change March 2018 to 2019Males and Females83,26382,77383,00582,23682,634-1%All Christian39,83939,54139,78439,29339,515-1%Anglican13,97113,80813,75513,49613,480-4%Free Church776764782758737-5%Roman Catholic14,33414,27714,24614,09414,160-1%Other Christian10,75810,69211,00110,94511,138 4%Muslim12,84712,89412,86812,89413,0081%Hindu379354350361343-9%Sikh625632634638611-2%Buddhist1,5171,5181,5691,5751,6197%Jewish480488477482477-1%Other religious group1,7241,7771,7821,8381,8769%Non recognised10111267**No religion25,71125,39325,41325,05325,034-3%Not recorded1311651169614410% Chaplains may work on a full-time, part-time, sessional or voluntary basis. A breakdown of Chaplains in employed in prisons and by faith, is provided below.Number of chaplains (headcount) employed by HM Prison and Probation Service1, as at 31 March 2019.  HeadcountPrison Service establishmentsReligionNumber of chaplains Christian242 Muslim118 Sikh12 Hindu3 Unknown299Total 474Notes to TableA substantial amount of Chaplaincy services within the public sector Prison Service are provided by non-employed staff on a sessional basis, which are not included in the figures presented in this table. Chaplains fill roles in bands 5 and 7 or above under the Fair and Sustainable structures.These are mostly managing Chaplains where the religion of the post is not specified.Only includes chaplains working in prisons and therefore will not match published data which includes Chaplains who work in other areas of HMPPS, such as at Headquarters.  Information on the private estate is not held centrally. The total number of chaplain staff since 2010 can be found in the HMPPS Workforce Statistics Bulletin. The latest publication on the number of Chaplains can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hm-prison-and-probation-service-workforce-quarterly-march-2019 Information on the religious affiliation of chaplains is not published.

Prison Sentences

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of people convicted in each of the last twelve years who previously had (a) no, (b) between one and four, (c) between five and nine, (d) between 10 and 15, (e) between 16 and 25, (f) between 26 and 50, (g) between 51 and 75, (h) between 76 and 100 and (i) 101 or more convictions received (i) an immediate custodial sentence, (ii) a suspended sentence and (iii) a community sentence.

Robert Buckland: Data on the percentage of occasions on which an offender was convicted with a specified number of previous convictions and received a specified sentence, covering the period 2006 – 2018, can be viewed in the attached table.



Table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 15.83 KB)

Dogs: Meat

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with the Foreign Secretary on the potential effect of banning the consumption of dog meat in the UK on animal welfare abroad.

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of New Clause 23 to the Agriculture Bill which proposes a penalty for eating dogs of imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months or a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions he has had with the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the effect of legislative proposals to prohibit the human consumption of dog meat in (a) the UK and (b) abroad.

Paul Maynard: The consumption of dog meat, animal welfare and amendments to the Agriculture Bill are matters for the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The Secretary of State for Justice has not therefore discussed these issues with the Foreign Secretary. The Ministry of Justice is responsible for general criminal law issues and has frequent discussions on these matters with other Government departments, including the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Department for Work and Pensions

Pensions: Consumer Information

Paul Masterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much funding (a) has been and (b) is planned to be allocated to the Money and Pensions Service for the delivery of pensions dashboards in (i) 2019-20 and (ii) each of the three subsequent years from (A) the financial services levy on FCA-regulated firms, (B) the general levy on pension schemes and (C) general taxation.

Paul Masterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how funding for the Money and Pension Service for delivery of pensions dashboards will be allocated between (a) the delivery of a non-commercial dashboard hosted by the Money and Pensions Service and (b) the Industry Delivery group for implementation of the wider project.

Guy Opperman: Pensions dashboard are a priority of this Government. The Government is committed to ensuring that the Money and Pensions Service has the funding necessary to develop the non-commercial dashboard and to work with industry, through the Industry Delivery Group (IDG), to develop the dashboard architecture. The Money and Pensions Service has £8.2m funding for 2019/20 to begin development of the non-commercial dashboard and the dashboard architecture. This funding consists of:£1.2m from the Department’s Autumn Budget 2018 settlement to cover the initial set up costs for the Industry Delivery Group.£4.7m from the pensions guidance element of the Financial Services Levy.£2.3m from the General Pensions Levy. We will continue to work with the Money and Pensions Service to understand the future development and ongoing maintenance costs over future years, including over the next three years to ensure sufficient funding is allocated from the levies.

Universal Credit

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effect on universal credit claimants who have been awarded the limited work capacity (LWC) element in addition to their basic element of the wait to be awarded the extra element.

Justin Tomlinson: People who claim Universal Credit due to having a health condition or disability, and have been determined to have limited capability for work (LCW) or limited capability for work and work related activity (LCWRA) following a work capability assessment, may be entitled to an additional amount of benefit. However, the additional amount for having LCW is not payable for a health related claim made on or after 3 April 2017. Only health related claims made on or after that date and where the claimant is determined as having LCWRA will have access to an additional amount of benefit. The additional amount for having LCWRA may only become payable from the beginning of the assessment period following the assessment period in which the relevant period ends. The relevant period is the 3 month period starting from the first day on which the claimant provides evidence of their having a health condition or disability which limits their capability for work. This means that all claimants who are determined to have LCWRA - with some exceptions, for example where the claimant is terminally ill and is not expected to live for more than 6 months - have to serve a three month relevant period. The relevant period is used, before payment of the additional amount for having LCWRA can be made, to establish that the claimant has a long-term health condition or disability. During the relevant period the claimant is made financially secure through being paid the Universal Credit standard allowance, plus any additional amounts to which they may be entitled, such as those for children and housing costs.

Universal Credit

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what penalties universal credit claimants incur if they are unable to repay their advance within 12 months.

Alok Sharma: Before accepting a Universal Credit Advance the number of monthly repayment instalments is agreed with a claimant, up to a maximum of 12. For a variety of reasons, instalments may not occur consecutively, so claimants do not incur a penalty if it takes them more than 12 calendar months. The Department has taken a number of steps to ensure that advances meet the needs of claimants and that recovery arrangements are personalised and reasonable. From October 2019 we are reducing the maximum rate of deductions to 30 per cent and from October 2021 we are increasing the maximum recovery period for advances from 12 to 16 months.

Universal Credit

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 8 May to Question 249846, whether she has made an assessment of the feasibility of a claimant living with a 40 per cent reduction in their universal credit payment; and if she will make a statement.

Alok Sharma: The Department has taken a number of steps to ensure that advances meet the needs of claimants and that recovery arrangements are personalised and reasonable. From October 2019 we are reducing the maximum rate of deductions to 30 per cent of standard allowance and from October 2021 we are increasing the maximum recovery period for advances from 12 to 16 months.

Universal Credit: Tower Hamlets

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the report from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets' Housing Scrutiny Sub-Committee, published 26 February 2019, which found that in 2018-19 the local authority had referred 539 universal credit cases back to her Department due to accuracy queries, of which 197 were still outstanding.

Will Quince: The vast majority of Universal Credit (UC) claimants’ claims are administered in real time and accurately. Every UC award is calculated based on the circumstances of individuals during each assessment period, taking into account savings, assets and income. All claimants have a responsibility to notify the Department about changes in their circumstances, as this could alter the monthly award and/or the responsibilities associated with receiving UC.

Statutory Sick Pay

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on mandating private healthcare companies to provide statutory sick pay; and if she will make a statement.

Justin Tomlinson: All employers are already required to provide Statutory Sick Pay to an employee on sickness absence who meet certain criteria.To qualify for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) an individual must:(a) be an “employed earner” working for an employer who has liability to pay secondary Class 1 NI contributions(b) have done some work for the employer(c) have been ill for at least 4 days in a row (including non-working days)(d) earn above the Lower Earnings Limit (currently at £118 per week)(e) have given the correct notice to the employer.

Unemployment Benefits

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of waiving the recommencement of waiting times for the receipt of out-of-work benefits after the completion of a short-term contract; and if she will make a statement.

Alok Sharma: Short-term contracts where earnings are above the relevant threshold would lead to the closure of a claim to benefit. Once this short-term contract has ended, Universal Credit can be claimed. The Universal Credit assessment period and payment structure are fundamental parts of the design. They help reduce welfare dependency by mirroring the world of work, where currently around 70 per cent of tax credit claimants are paid monthly or four weekly. The assessment period runs for a full calendar month from the date of entitlement and the Universal Credit pay date will be seven calendar days after the end of the initial assessment period. Subsequent pay dates will be the same each month. It is therefore not possible to award a Universal Credit payment as soon as a claim is made, as the assessment period must run its course before the award of Universal Credit can be calculated. No claimant has to go five weeks without receiving support, as advances, worth up to 100 per cent of a claimant’s indicative award, are available up front if there is need.

Occupational Pensions

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when the Government plans to bring forward legislative proposals to provide for collective defined contribution pension schemes.

Guy Opperman: This Government has recently published a response to a Collective Defined Contribution schemes consultation, and have engaged extensively with key stakeholders. In this response we have committed to facilitate Collective Defined Contribution schemes and have stated that the Government will bring forward Primary legislation as soon as parliamentary time allows. The response can be viewed here:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/789051/response-delivering-collective-defined-contribution-pension-schemes.pdf

Access to Work Programme: Self-employed

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that the Access to Work scheme supports disabled people who are self-employed.

Justin Tomlinson: We have undertaken significant reform of Access to Work, but there are still further opportunities for improvements and we are committed to listening to our customers and stakeholders. For example, to address points raised about the Access to Work self-employment customer journey in the DWP research report ‘Access to Work: Qualitative research with applicants, employers and delivery staff’, published in November 2018, we worked closely with customers and stakeholders to identify the issues and develop a new self-employment customer journey for freelancers and contractors. To support this work, we are also developing an Access to Work ‘Workplace Adjustments Passport’, comprising a current record of an Access to Work customer’s support needs. This ‘passport’ is designed to be shared with new employers and commissioners, so that Access to Work customers who change jobs or move between contracts can be sure that their support needs are known in advance and adjustments may be put in place swiftly.We will be announcing the detail of these new reforms later in the year.

Access to Work Programme

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions she has had with (a) disabled people and (b) disabled people's organisations on the Access to Work scheme.

Justin Tomlinson: I am committed to ensuring that disabled people and disabled people’s organisations are engaged with and listened to. My diary for this year is filling up with meetings with disabled people and stakeholders, ranging from individual Access to Work customers to larger organisations such as Action on Hearing Loss. Access to Work has a regular stakeholder forum which brings together disabled people and disabled people’s organisations to discuss how the Access to Work offer works for our customers. This group includes representatives from organisations such as the Thomas Pocklington Trust, Versus Arthritis and the National Deaf Children’s Association. The group is due to meet next month and will discuss plans for future improvements for the Access to Work scheme. DWP also undertakes regular engagement with stakeholders on specific issues. For example, this week officials held a stakeholder workshop on Access to Work’s Tech Fund policy, exploring strategies for encouraging the take-up of assistive technology to meet support needs. Next week, we are hosting the latest in a series of stakeholder workshops to discuss the Access to Work offer for self-employed people.

Employment: Mental Health

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on ensuring that workplaces (a) have stand-alone mental health policies for employees and (b) provide mental health training for management and staff to support colleagues.

Justin Tomlinson: The DWP and DHSC Joint Work and Health Unit is overseeing progress across 40 recommendations that were made in Thriving at Work: The Stevenson / Farmer review of mental health and employers published in October 2017 these range from short term deliverables to longer term reform. Government is committed to working with the authors of the review and key stakeholders across the public, private and voluntary sectors to ensure that employers of all sizes act to implement the core and enhanced standards and help them, and their employees, realise the benefits of healthy, inclusive workplaces. To improve information and advice for employers we are working with Mind and the Royal Foundation to continue developing their Mental Health at Work website (https://www.mentalhealthatwork.org.uk) which launched on 11th September 2018.

Home Office

Home Office: Departmental Records

Gavin Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department has taken to locate the 114 documents in relation to child sexual abuse and hon. Members which were misplaced by his Department.

Victoria Atkins: In February 2013, the Permanent Secretary commissioned an investigation into information the Home Office received in relation to child abuse allegations, between 1979 and 1999. That investigation was unable to locate 114 potentially relevant Home Office files.On 7 July 2014 the Home Secretary appointed Peter Wanless and Richard Whittam QC to carry out an independent review of the 2013 investigation.On 29 July 2014, the Home Office Permanent Secretary directed that a physical search targeted on specific areas of the Department be undertaken to see if any of the 114 missing files could be located. This did not uncover any of the 114 missing files, though one was found prior to this exercise. As part of their Review, Wanless and Whittam interrogated what was known about each of the 114 files. They published their analysis within their final report, published November 2014.

Home Office: Sick Leave

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of officials in his Department took sick leave for reasons relating to stress in the last 12 months; what proportion that leave was of total sick leave taken in his Department; and what the cost was to his Department of officials taking sick leave over that period.

Victoria Atkins: The number of staff in the Home Office who took sickness absence due to mental health issues in the 12 months to 30 April 2019; the proportion of the total sick absence that this comprises; and the cost to the Department of sick absence due to mental ill health during that period is set out in the accompanying table. These absences include those relating to stress, as well as other mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. These conditions can be triggered by various factors.We are committed to breaking down barriers and reducing stigma for employees living with mental health conditions. We aim to equip managers to recognise and address stress in the workplace and encourage employees to talk to their managers about mental health issues so that they can access help and support at the earliest stage.



Table - PQ 254070
(Excel SpreadSheet, 13.99 KB)

Radicalism: Propaganda

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to amend the Treason Act 1945 to provide a tenable basis for the prosecution of British citizens who participate in and spread propaganda of Islamist extremism.

Mr Ben Wallace: The Commission for Countering Extremism was set up last year to support the Government to understand the scale of extremism and the wider harms associated with it, beyond radicalisation into terrorism. The Commission’s work includes looking into whether there is a need for a statutory definition of extremism and new powers to tackle it.

Intelligence Services: International Cooperation

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he is taking steps to strengthen the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance after the UK leaves the EU; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Ben Wallace: The Five Eyes alliance is of critical importance to the UK in tackling the most pressing security threats we face. We continue to work together with our Five Eyes partners on our shared global security interests and to harness the power of this international alliance, including through intelligence-sharing.The UK will continue to invest in the relationship and take a leading role, including by hosting the Five Countries Ministerial conference this summer. There is no suggestion in the Withdrawal Agreement or the Political Declaration on our future relationship that our exit from the EU will have ramifications on the UK’s security arrangements with the Five Eyes.

Counter-terrorism: Universities

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that university authorities co-operate with the Prevent programme.

Mr Ben Wallace: The Office for Students has delegated responsibility, from the Secretary of State for Education, for monitoring compliance of the Prevent Duty in the higher education (HE) sector. The latest Office for Students monitoring report shows high levels of compliance, with over 97% of universities and other HE providers having due regard for the duty.Under this delegation, the Secretary of State asked the Office for Students to move towards a more risk based monitoring approach, ensuring resources are targeted where most needed. The Office for Students updated their monitoring framework to reflect this, which took effect in September 2018.The Government provides direct support to the sector on implementation of Prevent through a network of ‘further education / higher education’ (FE/HE) regional co-ordinators who work directly with higher and further education institutions, and provide them with the advice, support and training they need to build their and their students’ resilience to extremism and radicalisation. There is also published Government guidance for the sector on Prevent implementation. The Home Office has regular discussions with the Department for Education on the implementation of Prevent in the higher education sector

Religious Hatred: Christianity

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate he has made of trends in the level of hate crimes against Christians.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office has collected on a mandatory basis the number of religious hate crimes where the targeted religion was Christian since 2017/18.Data for 2017/18 can be found in ‘Hate Crime, England and Wales, 2017/18’ which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hate-crime-england-and-wales-2017-to-2018

Seasonal Workers: EEA Nationals

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to ensure that EEA nationals are able to carry out seasonal work in the UK after the UK leaves the EU.

Caroline Nokes: The Government is committed to developing a future borders and immigration system that will cater for all sectors of the UK, including for those who employ seasonal workers.Our proposals in the immigration White Paper, the UK’s Future Skills-Based Immigration System, include a temporary short-term workers route which will be open to people at any level, including seasonal workers.As the Government has been clear, we are launching a twelve month engagement process in order to listen to businesses and organisations. As part of this, there has already been engagement with employers a broad range of sectors. We will consider the feedback from this process before making final decisions.

Chemical Weapons: Salisbury

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what reviews his Department has commissioned into the 2018 Salisbury Novichok nerve agent incident; and what the timeframe is for those reviews to be (a) completed and (b) published.

Mr Ben Wallace: We keep the issues raised by the Salisbury nerve agent attack under consideration but currently have no plans to publish any reviews relating to them.

Crime: Business Premises

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many crimes took place on commercial premises in 2018.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office does not hold this data. Estimates of crimes in commercial premises is published in the Commercial Victimisation Survey (CVS) and da-ta for 2018 is due to be published in Autumn 2019. A link to the most recent publication giving results from the 2017 survey can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/crime-against-businesses-findings-from-the-2017-commercial-victimisation-survey

Paedophilia

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the accuracy of the Government's estimate of the number of paedophiles living in the UK.

Victoria Atkins: Child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) is an appalling crime that this government is committed to stamping out.In the Home Secretary’s speech at the NSPCC on 3 September 2019, he said that the National Crime Agency estimates that around 80,000 people in the UK present some kind of sexual threat to children online, and the NCA believe that’s a conservative estimate.The Government continue to engage closely with a range of partners including law enforcement, NGOs and academics to build our understanding of the evolving threat in order to do all we can to protect children and stop offenders.

Alcoholic Drinks: Sales

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 7 May 2019 to Question 248072 on Alcoholic Drinks: Sales , and the Answer of 16 May to Question 253725 on Immigration: EU Nationals, for what reason the Government does not use the standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization to amend the mandatory licensing condition to allow the use of digital forms of identification.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office will consider whether the standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation could be used to amend the mandatory licensing condition on age verification.

Scotland Office

Construction: Scotland

Hugh Gaffney: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on employment levels in Scotland's construction sector.

David Mundell: I have regular discussions with the Scottish Government on a range of issues on Scotland’s economy, including those which span both devolved and reserved matters.

Cabinet Office

Cabinet: Ministerial Responsibility

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the effect of one person occupying both the roles of National Security Adviser and Cabinet Secretary on the effectiveness of those roles.

Mr David Lidington: Sir Mark Sedwill has been operating successfully as Cabinet Secretary since June 2017 and has the full confidence of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. His responsibilities incorporate those he exercised as National Security Adviser and, like his predecessors, those of the Head of the Civil Service.

Ministerial Responsibility

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to publish an updated list of Ministerial responsibilities.

Mr David Lidington: Details of Ministerial responsibilities can be found on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers The List of Ministerial Responsibilities was last updated in December 2018. An update to the document is expected in the summer.

Treasury

Research and Development Tax Credit

Andrew Percy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the value was of R&D tax credits in (a) the Humber, (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and (c) the UK in each of the last five years.

Andrew Percy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many businesses have taken up R&D tax credits in (a) the Humber, (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and (c) the UK in each of the last five years.

Jesse Norman: The value of Research and Development (R&D) tax credits and the number of businesses taking those up for the years 2000-01 to 2016-17 are published in the relevant National Statistics:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/742661/Research_and_Development_Tax_Credits_Statistics_September_2018.pdf The same publication contains the number and value of claims for Yorkshire and the Humber for 2015-16 and 2016-17. The number and values for earlier years are published in previous publications:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/577859/160914_R_D_publication_commentary_v1-1.pdf https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/552382/R_D_Tax_Credits_Statistics_September_2015.pdf https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20150507075637/https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/356389/RD5.pdf The value of tax credits and the number of businesses taking up tax credits by county or unitary authority for 2015-16 and 2016-17 are published in the supplementary tables. Data for other years and geographies would only be available at disproportionate cost.https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/798060/RD_2016-17_tables_by_region_sector_Apr19.xlsx https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/798063/RD_2015-16_tables_by_county_ua_Apr19.xlsx All these tables are based on registered office location, which may not be where the actual R&D activity is carried out.

Tax Avoidance

Joseph Johnson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he has taken to ensure the accuracy of information provided to his Department by HMRC on the 2019 Loan Charge.

Jesse Norman: The Treasury has worked very closely with HMRC throughout the development of the policy. Officials in both departments work within the framework of the Civil Service Code, which sets out the standards of behaviour, including objectivity and honesty, by which Civil Servants must abide. The code is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-code/the-civil-service-code. More details on the tax policy making process are available here: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130102201052/http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/junebudget_tax_policy_making.pdf.

Batteries: VAT

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to lower VAT on battery storage systems to five per cent.

Jesse Norman: Under UK law, battery storage systems are standard rated; there are no current plans to allow a reduced rate of VAT on battery storage systems.

Press and Publications: VAT Zero Rating

Tom Brake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reasons VAT on (a) books, (b) newspapers and (c) magazines is zero-rated.

Jesse Norman: A zero rate of Value Added Tax (VAT) has applied to supplies of books, newspapers and magazines in the UK since the adoption of VAT in 1973. This served as a continuation of the exemption of those supplies from purchase tax, applied from its inception in 1940.

Universal Credit

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether HMRC takes into account whether people who receive universal credit have been sanctioned when calculating their annual income.

Jesse Norman: Universal Credit is not a taxable benefit, therefore Universal Credit is not included when calculating an individual’s annual taxable income.

Historic Buildings: Repairs and Maintenance

Sir David Evennett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of the recommendation by Historic Houses to reduce the income tax rate on heritage maintenance funds from 45 per cent to 20 per cent.

Jesse Norman: The Government already supports historic buildings through a number of favourable tax reliefs for Heritage Maintenance Funds. The Government received representations from Historic Houses as part of a recent consultation on the taxation of trusts. The Government is considering responses to the consultation and will respond in due course. The Government makes tax announcements at fiscal events.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Council of Europe

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what funding the Government provides to representatives from the British Youth Council who sit on the Youth Department of the Council of Europe.

Mims Davies: As a ‘major contributor’ to the Council of Europe, the UK pays over €32 million annually, which includes a contribution to the European Youth Foundation.

Lotteries

Bob Blackman: Whether he plans to increase the annual turnover limit for society lotteries to £100 million per annum.

Mims Davies: The annual sales limit was one of the limits on which the government consulted and that we are considering in our response.I am still committed to ensuring that the regulatory framework for lotteries is appropriate and that both society lotteries and the National Lottery are able to thrive.My aim is to allow the society lottery sector to continue to grow, while maintaining the balance between society lotteries and the National Lottery.

Youth Organisations

Eddie Hughes: What recent assessment his Department has made of the value of youth organisations to local areas.

Mims Davies: The Government recognises the transformational impact that youth services can have, especially for young people facing multiple barriers or disadvantage.We are working across Government and with young people to develop a new Youth Charter setting out Government’s clear vision and offer for young people.

Women and Equalities

Sexual Harassment: Employment

Helen Hayes: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to the Government response to the Seventh Report of the Women and Equalities Committee, Sexual harassment in the workplace HC1801, when she plans to launch the public consultations.

Victoria Atkins: The Government will launch a consultation shortly covering:the evidence for introducing a new duty on employers to prevent harassment;extending the protections of the Equality Act to volunteers and interns;strengthening and clarifying the laws in relation to third party harassment;the evidence for changing employment tribunal time limits for Equality Act 2010 cases.The Government consultation on tackling the misuse of confidentiality clauses in situations of workplace harassment or discrimination closed on 29 April and we are now considering the responses.